FEB 10 -- February 10, 2010 – (Madison) The final defendant of a heroin trafficking investigation was sentenced in federal court on February 8, 2010. Stephen P. Sinnott, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced the sentencing of Chavis Webster, a.k.a. “Gizmo”, 27, of Madison. U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb sentenced Webster to 216 months (18 years) in federal prison. Webster and nine other defendants were arrested in August 2009 as part of a multi-agency collaborative investigation. Webster pled guilty to distributing heroin on November 4, 2009.

During the sentencing hearing Judge Crabb noted that the lengthy sentence was imposed because Webster made a calculated decision to sell heroin, had a lengthy criminal history, and was a serious danger to the community.

The eight other defendants in this case who were previously sentenced are as follows:

NAME

SENTENCE IMPOSED

Brian K. Adams

120 months (10 years)

Michael Adams

36 months (3 years)

Corey Webster

151 months (12 years and 7 months)

Eric Dixon

27 months (2 years and 3 months)

Derek Farmer

78 months (6 years and 6 months)

Walter Green

135 months (11 years and 3 months)

Cherish Jones

24 months (2 years)

Yarnell Fuller

96 months (8 years)

“The prison sentences that these convicted heroin distributors received sends a clear message that drug trafficking will not be tolerated in our communities,” stated Stephen A. Luzinski, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's Chicago Field Division, which covers the state of Wisconsin. “The DEA is committed to these collaborative enforcement efforts to strike down drug trafficking organizations.”

The nine arrests in Dane County were the result of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation conducted in conjunction with the Wisconsin Department of Justice - Division of Criminal Investigation, Madison Police Department, Middleton Police Department, Sun Prairie Police Department, McFarland Police Department, DeForest Police Department, and the Dane County Narcotics Gang Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Jeffrey Anderson and Paul Connell led the prosecution of this case.